The Trump Administration’s controversial visa and travel bans have now been extended to include four more African countries. Immigrants from Myanmar, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, and Nigeria will be banned from the US. Nationals of these countries will be banned from obtaining U.S. permanent residency, otherwise known as "green cards"; however, temporary visas for tourists, business people, students and workers from those nations will not be affected.

U.S. officials said the countries failed to meet U.S. security and information-sharing standards, which necessitated the new restrictions. Nigeria has begun working on the security and information-sharing requirements for the lifting of a U.S. travel ban on prospective immigrants from the African nation and therefore, Nigeria government officials remain optimistic that the ban would be a temporary one, as it applies to them.

The U.S. government will also stop issuing “diversity visas” to nationals of Sudan and Tanzania. The visas, which Trump has criticized, are available by lottery for applicants from countries with low rates of immigration and they are known as the green card lottery, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The existing version of the ban includes Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen. North Korea and Venezuela also face visa bars. Those restrictions will remain in place. The new travel ban will take effect on Feb. 21, 2020, according to the Presidential proclamation.